For the first time in history, the nations that are part of the Group of 7 agreed to collectively reduce the emissions they produce.
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While many of the G7 nations had individually set similar goals of reducing emissions by 2030, it marked the first time that the leaders from all seven nations came together to announce the joint initiative.
Despite that promise, many environmentalists were disappointed they didn't go further. Still, the outcome of the G7 summit that was held in England recently is that the major economic world powers will focus their efforts on renewable energy.
Emissions Will Be Cut
The leaders of the G7 nations agreed that they would cut emissions in half by 2030. This will be measured against a baseline taken from 2010. The ultimate goal for the nations is to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, which aligns with President Joe Biden's promise to the American people.
As part of this effort, the nations encourage businesses to play their part by setting their own targets based on science to cut emissions. According to the G7 communique, they can do this by joining the Race to Zero initiative created by the United Nations.
Funding for Fossil Fuels
The G7 leaders promised they would stop funding any new thermal coal generation that didn't have the technology to support CCS or co-located carbon capture and storage.
In essence, CCS technology captures and then stores any carbon dioxide that is emitted before it can escape into the atmosphere. In addition, the G7 nations promised they would phase out all subsidies for "inefficient" fossil fuels by 2025.
Sectors of focus for this decarbonization are heavy industry, transportation, forestry, land use, agriculture, energy generation, and homes and buildings.
The G7 leaders specifically aim on phasing out coal power altogether, though they didn't set an end date for doing that.
Aid to Other Nations
The G7 nations failed to commit to providing $100 billion per year in funding to help low-income countries decarbonize while also accelerating adaptation to the climate.
This is one of the main criticisms of the G7 nations' communique. The $100 billion in annual funding has long been promised, but it didn't come to fruition at this year's summit.
Instead, there were promises for the "Build Back Better for the World," or B3W, plan. It was a promise to only offer infrastructure financing for projects ranging "from railways in Africa to wind farms in Asia," the communique states.
Shift to Green Energy in the U.S.
Despite the G7 leaders not pleasing all who wanted them to go further on green energy development, there's no denying the fact that there will be a shift in that development in the U.S.
As Green Development points out, Biden has committed to some of these initiatives in America already. In other words, despite the G7 summit not producing stances that are as hard-lined as some environmental groups would have liked, that won't change the shift to green development in the U.S.
America is already stopping natural gas pipeline projects and shifting the focus to alternative energy sources. This means more investment and jobs will come to companies that produce power through wind, solar, and water.
The public transportation industry is seeing a monumental shift to electric vehicles. Similar shifts are expected in other industries that account for high rates of greenhouse gas emissions.
So, regardless of what came out of the G7 summit, the green energy industry in the United States is likely to see a significant boost in investment in the next few years.
